The present invention relates to decorative devices and particularly to a set of parts in a generally flat configuration which can be assembled easily to resemble a multi-looped ribbon bow.
Decorative bow knots have long been made in ribbons used to secure gift packages. A certain amount of skill and dexterity is required to make attractive bow knots which contain more than a single pair of loops of such ribbon, and fancy hand-tied bows of ribbon may therefore be quite costly. Simulated bow knots are commercially available at low cost in which a number of loops of ribbon are stapled or similarly fastened to a backing member, with the individual loops separated angularly so that the device resembles a multi-looped bow knot. The base member of such a bow can be fastened decoratively to a package by the use of a layer of an adhesive material. Such bows, however, are of quite limited size and occupy a significant amount of space if stored.
Ribbon bows for gift packages can also be made by machines which are able to use fabric ribbon of readily available widths, for example up to about an inch wide. Such bows are also limited in size, however, to rosette diameters of a few inches.
While large bows can be made by tying appropriate ribbon, the ribbon material of which such bows must be made, to be attractive, is quite costly, and the process of tying such bows in an attractive form is difficult and time-consuming. Furthermore, such hand-tied bows occupy large amounts of space if stored for possible reuse, and are not likely to have as good an appearance when reused as when freshly tied, yet are very expensive to be used once and then discarded.
Decorative bows of much larger size than those currently available could be used attractively in advertising and sales displays such as in automobile showrooms and similar locations, to attract attention to large products offered for sale, and if reusable such bows would justify their initial cost.
Artificial flowers have been made of ribbon passed through circular holes arranged on a disc-like base, as shown in Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 1,542,432, but these artificial flowers are not easily disassembled for reuse or storage and do not have the appearance of a hand-tied ribbon bow.
What is desired, then, is a structure for large decorative bows having multiple loops, which present an attractive, rosette-like appearance. Such bows should be relatively inexpensive by comparison to hand-tied ribbon bows of similar size and should be easily assembled from a set of parts which can be shipped in a compact flat configuration. They should either be so inexpensive as to be disposable after one use, or able to be disassembled into a conveniently storable flat configuration. Preferably, such bows should also be able to withstand inclement weather.